Wool wax

C. A trilerpenoid or irimethylsierol, first found in the non-saponifiable material of wool wax. Lanosterol (4,4,14ot-trimethyl-5a-choiesta-8,24-dien-3 -ol) is the precursor in animals and fungi of other sterols such as... 

Table 8. Some Physical and Chemical Data for Wool Wax ...

Chemical Composition. Wool wax is a complex mixture of esters of water-soluble alcohols (168) and higher fatty acids (169) with a small proportion (ca 0.5%) of hydrocarbons (170). A substantial effort has been made to identify the various components, but results are compHcated by the fact that different workers use wool waxes from different sources and employ different analytical techniques. Nevertheless, significant progress has been made, and it is possible to give approximate percentages of the various components. The wool-wax acids (Table 9) are predominantiy alkanoic, a-hydroxy, and CO-hydroxy acids. Each group contains normal, iso, and anteiso series of various chain length, and nearly all the acids are saturated. 

Table 9. Summary of the Average Composition of Wool—Wax Acids ...

The alcohol fraction is likewise a complex mixture of both aUphatic and cycHc compounds (Table 10). The principal components are cholesterol (34%), and lanosterol and dihydrolanosterol (38%). The aUphatic alcohols account for about 22% of the unsaponifiable products. Sixty-nine components of ahphatic alcohols had been reported up to 1974 (latest reported work as of ca 1997). The hydrocarbons (ca 0.5%) show stmctural similarity to the wool—wax acids or ahphatic alcohols and contain highly branched alkanes as well as cycloalkanes. 

Alcohol Chain length Approximate % of wool-wax alcohols... 

WoU-veredelung, /. wool processing, -wachs, n. wool wax. -wdsche, /. wool scouring, womit, adv. wherewith, womogllch, adv. if possible, wonach, adv. whereupon, after which, after what. 

Other organic raw materials P-Sitosterol Lanolin, wool wax, cotton seed, wheat germ oil... 

Spectra of the greasy wool are more complicated than in the previous study. In negative ion mode, different fatty acids, fatty alcohols and alkanes are detected, whereas the positive ion mode shows mainly the presence of cholesterol and the cholesterol oxidation product (Figure 15.6). These ions are attributed to the presence of wool wax on the surface of raw wool. 

After the modern cleaning procedure, analyses lead to the same results as those previously presented by Carr et al. [2004] with the presence of the 18-MEA signal. This procedure is really effective for the removal of wool wax. In comparison, the urine based... 

It is liquid-liquid reactions involving phase transfer catalysts which generally benefit from the use of ultrasound. Sonication produces homogenisation - i. e. very fine emulsions - which greatly increase the reactive interfacial area and allows faster reaction at lower temperatures. Davidson has reported an example of this with the ultrasonically enhanced saponification of wool waxes by aqueous sodium hydroxide using tetra n-heptyl ammonium bromide as a PTC [124]. 

The unsaponifiables of woolwax, known as woolwax alcohols, are in considerable demand by cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Woolwax has a great affinity for water, of which it will absorb 25 to 30%. Refined woolwax is kneaded with water to produce a water-white, colorless oiiilmenL, known as hydrous lanolin or lanolin USP. Anhydrous lanolin is widely used in cosmetic creams, since it is readily absorbed by the skin. It is also used m leather dressings and shoe pastes, as a superfatting agent for toilet soap, as a protective coating for metals, etc. United States consumption of wool wax is about 1.5 million lb/year. 

Wool, which is used as indoor floor covers, clothing and in many other consumer products, can emit a wide variety ofVOCs, many of which have strong odor. Lisovac and Shooter (2003) have shown that several VOCs can be detected in headspace sampling of wool and wool waxes. A number of these are odorous sulfur-containing compounds while the non-sulfur containing components include hydrocarbons, alcohols, aldehydes and ketones, the most prominent of which are 3-methylpen-tane, hexane, methylcylopentane, toluene, 2-methylpentane, ethanol, 1-butanol, pentanal, hexanal acetone, and 2-butanone. 

Lanolin has been used by man as a skin emollient for thousands of years.1 Lanolin (from the Latin lana for wool and oleum for oil) is another name for wool wax, which is secreted by the sebaceous glands of the sheep (Ovis aries) to soften the fleece and protect it against the elements. Lanolin was used by the ancient Greeks (circa 700 b.c.), and a method of recovering lanolin from wool washings was described by the Greek physician Dioscorides (60 a.d.) in his De materia medica.2... 

Wool wax, unlike human sebum, contains no triglycerides and is chemically a wax rather than a fat.8-9 The wool wax of newborn lambs is thought to consist almost entirely of esters which are very pale in color. These esters are hydrolyzed in the alkaline secretions by bacteria and the environment. The products can undergo further oxidation and degradation. The yield and composition... 

Truter, E.V., Wool Wax Chemistry and Technology, Cleaver-Hume Press Ltd., London, 1956. 

Jacob, J., The chemical composition of wool wax, in The Lanolin Book, Beiersdorf AG, Hamburg,... 

Hoppe, U. and Larsson, K., Water-in-oil emulsions — a study of wool-wax alcohols systems, J. Despersion Sci. Technol., 2, 433,1981. 

Lanolin purification Hydrogen peroxide and steam at 110°C145 Alkaline hydrogen peroxide144,145 Decolorizing wool wax... 

Collected on sheep wool Lanolin (wool wax) Wax esters (mainly cetyl palmi-tate-C32 and myristate-C30) Sterols and triterpene alcohol esters... 

Hydroxy or a-hydroxy acids have been shown to occur in sphingolipids, skin lipids, wool wax, bacterial cell wall lipids and in some seed oils. 3-Hydroxy or 3-hydroxy acids are present in bacterial lipids. 

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